But Runbeck’s sudden interest in banning community broadband coincides with similar efforts in states like Georgia and South Carolina backed by big cable and phone companies.Runbeck’s bill would directly target rural Minnesota, where broadband is the least robust, while exempting Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth (and incumbent phone and cable companies) from the bill’s provisions.Runbeck’s bill also constrains existing public broadband services from expanding, an important matter for providers still rolling out service to additional neighborhoods in their communities.

SB 313 also hurts existing cable and phone customers who pay higher rates because of the lack of competition.\

Brady says their community-owned system not only provides broadband where Charter would not, the cable company also was forced to reduce their rates for consumers in nearby communities, saving taxpayers across the entire city and county millions.

Sanera, research director and local government analyst at the North Carolina-based John Locke Foundation, commented, “I think it is impossible for a private company to compete with government provision of broadband. Government always has the advantage. It does not pay taxes, loans it receives are not based on the same principles as private companies, and government can force taxpayers to pay for deficits and losses,” he said.

Sanera and Stephenson, director of the Communications and Technology Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council, both say requiring a public referendum will do little to create a level playing field.

OconeeCounty administrator Scott Moulder said the legislation could effectively kill OconeeCounty’s project to construct about 245 miles of broadband cable. The project would be funded by a $9.6 million federal stimulus grant awarded last year for extending broadband service into areas now unserved because private providers did not find it financially feasible to extend their infrastructure there. A similar project, also federally funded, is under way in OrangeburgCounty.

Sponsors: Senator Apodaca.

ALEC

NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina State Rep. Marilyn Avila (R-WakeCounty) has introduced a new bill to fight pioneering municipal broadband efforts. Mainly supported by the state's large incumbent service providers -- AT&T, CenturyLink and Time Warner Cable -- the new bill is the fourth effort in recent years to put a ban on community fiber-based network efforts.

Five NC cities that have already created municipal broadband networks, Wilson, Salisbury, Morganton, Davidson and Mooresville, are exempt from most of the bill’s restrictions, although their coverage areas would be limited.

Telecom firms such as Time Warner Cable have argued that the municipal broadband networks have an unfair advantage, while the municipalities complain that the commercial providers do not offer high speed service in their areas and the lack hurts business.

"You're putting the public sector right up against the private sector," Runbeck said. "It's clearly a very competitive industry ... It's a high risk industry. Why should we put that risk on the taxpayer?"

She states she will introduce the same bill next session and though her bill is dead this year, it continues to collect co-sponsors. Not a good sign for Minnesota's rural communities.

There is no question that broadband will become as ubiquitous as the traditional household utilities.

But does it deserve the same classification as water & sewer, roadways, or school systems, in being provided by the government?

A growing number of municipalities are answering “yes” by building their own networks and offering broadband services to their citizens.ALEC disagrees with their answer due to the negative impacts it has on free markets …

If municipalities are inclined to pursue broadband initiatives then certain safeguards must be put in place in order to ensure that private providers, with whom the municipality will compete with, are not disadvantaged by the municipality in the exercise of its bonding and taxing authority, management of rights of way, assessment of fees or taxes, or in any other way.

WASHINGTON, DC – Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn has issued a statement saying that state efforts to limit municipal broadband deployments are new obstacles in meeting the goals of the National Broadband Plan.

“I recently learned that several state legislatures are considering bills that are contrary to the deployment objectives of the Broadband Plan. For example, in North Carolina, the state legislature is currently evaluating legislation entitled ‘Level Playing Field/Local Government Competition.’ Last week the North Carolina House passed the bill, and it currently awaits consideration in the Senate.”

“This piece of legislation certainly sounds goal-worthy, an innocuous proposition, but do not let the title fool you. This measure, if enacted, will not only fail to level the playing field; it will discourage municipal governments from addressing deployment in communities where the private sector has failed to meet broadband service needs. In other words, it will be a significant barrier to broadband deployment and may impede local efforts to promote economic development.”

Contrary to a few politically-motivated and poorly researched editorials and blog posts, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) today is no longer involved with the private prison industry. Corrections Corporation of America is not, nor is any other private prison company, a member or supporter of ALEC.

.We only hope that, in the future, our critics will have similar respect for the facts when they write about us.

Contact: Kaitlyn Buss at kbuss@alec.org or 202-742-8526.

Well the question begs to be asked –

How long have you been no longer involved with the private prison industry?

(And why in the hell are you talking about this topic, today, in your opening sentence?Misdirection – the leading deception of ALEC misstatements [aka lies] by ALECers.)

Anyway back to the lack of involvement in the prison industry.

Looks like ALEC has taught Ms. Buss how to beat around the bush like a good ALECer.

BUT – if you pull back the branches and look at the facts – there’s a lot of thorns in that old bush she is hiding behind.

1992 American Legislative Exchange Council Annual Report

ALEC'S PRIVATE SECTOR MEMBERSHIP

Corrections Corporation of America

1993 American Legislative Exchange Council Annual Meeting

ALEC's Private Sector Members

Members and Contributors

Corrections Corporation of

America

1997American Legislative Exchange Council's 24th Annual Meeting

ALEC Private Sector Club Members

MADISON Club Member

Corrections Corporation of America

From the 1998 ALEC Business plan:

MADISON CLUB $25,000

17 Members.

Madison Club members receive:

All publications

Task Force Qualification Status

Three contacts on Mailing List

2 Task Force Voting Memberships

And then there is another $2,500 to belong to a task force.

Historically CCA has been very active with ALEC as shown in this snip form the Prison Payoff Report published in November, 2000 by Western States Center & Western Prison Project.

Prominent among ALEC’s corporate funders are several major stakeholders in prison privatization, including Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Wackenhut Corrections, and Sodexho Marriott Services, a major stockholder in CCA. CCA, the largest private prison corporation in the U.S., made the President’s List for contributions to ALEC’s 1999 States & Nation Policy Summit. (Sodexho Marriott and Wackenhut also sponsored the conference.)

Representatives from the corporate sector co-chair the task forces that develop ALEC’s model legislation. ALEC’s current Criminal Justice Task Force is co-chaired by Brad Wiggins, CCA Director of Business Development, and Brian Nairin of the National Association of Bail Insurance Companies. Up until April 2000, the Task Force was co-chaired by John Rees, a vice president at CCA.

From the report "American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)" by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice published in April 2011

The Executive Committee of the Private Sector includes ten people. A brief biographical

statement follows:

Laurie Shanblum – she is the Senior Director of Business Development for the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Prior to this she had a thirty-seven year career in juvenile and adult corrections and criminal justice, including both the public and private sectors.

(ALEC, 2011)

They forgot this line from the same ALEC webpage:

Ms. Shanblum has been a member of ALEC since 2003 and is currently on the Public Safety and Elections Task Force.She is also sits on the Homeland Security Subcommittee.

Private Sector Executive Committee

The Public Safety and Elections (formerly known as Criminal Justice and Homeland Security) Task Force

January 27, 2011

AND
You will find that exact same screenshot on

March 27., 2011 – A year ago today

June 24, 2011

July 24, 2011

AND

October 24, 2008

It has been reported elsewhere that

…in 2011 CCA was still listed as on the ALEC criminal justice task force.In subsequent stories, they claimed they merely observed ALEC meetings

Merely observing ALEC – as an Executive Committee Member – I think NOT!

From the 2009 General Operating Procedures as noted in the 2009 Task Force Operating Guidelines as outlined in the 2011 letter to the IRS about the American Legislative Exchange Council 501c3 status by Common Cause:

Each Task Force shall have an Executive Committee appointed by the Public and Private Sector Task Force Co-Chairs that is appropriate in number to carry out the work product and strategic plan of ALEC and the Task Force. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Public Sector Task Force Co-chair, the Private Sector Task Force Co-Chair, the subcommittee co-chairs, and the remainder will be an equal number of legislative and private sector Task Force members. The Executive Committee will be responsible for determining the operating budget and proposing plans, programs and budgets for the succeeding year in accordance with (Section V (B); determining if a proposed educational activity conforms to a previously approved model bill, resolution or policy statement in accordance with (Section IX (F); and determining if an emergency situation exists that justifies waiving or reducing appropriate time limits in accordance with (Section VIII (1-I)).

The Public Sector Task Force Co-Chair and the Private Sector Task Force Co Chair, with the concurrence of a majority of the Executive Committee, polled in accordance with Section VIII (F), may schedule a Task Force vote by mail or-fax any form of electronic communication on any action pertaining to policy statements, model legislation or educational activity.

Task Forces may only undertake educational activities that are based on a policy statement, model bill or resolution that has been adopted as official ALEC policy, unless the Task Force votes to undertake the educational activity, in which case the educational activity is subjected to the same review process outlined in this Section. It is the responsibility of the Task Force Executive Committee to affirm by three-fourths majority vote conducted in accordance with Section VIII that an educational activity conforms to a policy statement, model bill or resolution.

And from a 2009 ALEC press release:

The Task Force’s Executive Committee has been developed to serve an advisory role to the Chairmen of the Task Force.

I’m sorry but as an Executive Committee member of the Civil Justice Taskforce she was doing more than just sitting, observing the task force meetings.

Well the question begs to be asked –

How long have you been no longer involved with the private prison industry??

Long enough to mislead the public by trying to totally dismiss the relationship?I think NOT!

All of them - a bunch of whiny babies - misdirecting the public to try and cover their a$$e$.

People who support the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Voter ID Legislation – turned into the proposed constitutional Amendment in Minnesota – state that people who are on Social Security or get government benefits have to have an photo ID to get Social Security or benefits

That argument is short-sighted to the issue of Voter ID because the ALEC Voter ID "model legislation" (MN amendment) REQUIRES that the ID have a CURRENT address and demonstrates their ignorance about the aging process and the issue of homelessness.

For many as they age – their place of residence changes – from a home that they may have been in for decades – to living with a relative, to entering an assisted living residence, or moving to a care facility.

Just because someone had to show proof once does not mean they will have the means to pay to do so again, the means to have transportation to obtain new identification or the help of someone that is necessary to get through the bureaucratic red-tape that has now been established by the so-called “less government” Republicans.

One – and only one, there are more – segment of the Minnesota population that will be adversely affected by the ALEC Voter ID legislation turned Amendment that was pushed by ALEC State-Chair Mary Kiffmeyer – is our veterans.

Kiffmeyer’s original version of the ALEC Voter ID legislation redlined/deleted the following provision currently in Minnesota statutes

(4) having a voter who is registered to vote in the precinct, or who is an employee employed by and working in a residential facility in the precinct and vouching for a resident in the facility, sign an oath in the presence of the election judge vouching that the voter or employee personally knows that the individual is a resident of the precinct.

Historically – if a person lived in the homeless shelter – an employee in that homeless shelter could vouch for the residents at the polling station so the residents of the homeless shelter could vote.

In the future - if the Voter ID Amendment passes - that may no longer be the case.

Homeless veterans make up a subpopulation of Minnesota residents – and are another, but not the only segment of the population – that will be hurt by the proposed Voter ID Amendment.

¶In total, the 2009 study identified 669 homeless veterans, including 605 men and 64 women, residing in emergency shelters, battered women’s shelters, and transitional housing programs or in non-sheltered locations. There were 65 children accompanying the interviewed veterans.

¶The number of veterans identified in 2009 is 7 percent higher than in 2006 (up by 45 people).

¶Overall, 1 in 10 homeless adults (11%) and approximately 1 in 5 homeless men (19%), served in the military at some time. By comparison, military veterans made up 10 percent of all adults in Minnesota, (19 percent of adult men and 1 percent of adult women).

¶The vast majority of homeless veterans were male (90%). However, the number and proportion of homeless women veterans has increased greatly, more than doubling from 29 in 2006 to 64 in 2009.

¶Forty-six percent of Minnesota’s homeless veterans are persons of color, even though persons of color make up less than 11 percent of the state’s overall population.

¶Three-quarters (74%) of homeless veterans had been homeless more than once. One-quarter (24%) reported they had been homeless two to three times in their lives, 25 percent had been homeless four to seven times, and 25 percent had been homeless eight or more times. The average age they first became homeless was 33.8, and the median age was 32.

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that has been assisting veterans for over 21 years, helping over 5,500 veterans and their families. It is estimated that 1% of the veterans in this state, or close to 4,100, will experience an episode of homelessness this year. MACV is there to assist.

Since 1992, the Saint Paul-based Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) has helped veterans who need housing, employment and legal assistance. Historically, MACV has served mostly male veterans age 45 and older—but now, says MACV Executive Director Kathleen Vitalis, “it’s a whole different game. We’re serving a more diverse population that ranges in age from 18 to 92, and the number of clients we serve has increased nearly 60 percent since 2007.”

The potential of 300,00 veterans in Minnesota being affected by this disgusting ALEC legislation - turned amendment in Minnesota.

5. Selling Prisons To The Highest Bidder: ALEC has worked closely with its private prison industry sponsors to increasingly privatize the U.S. prison system. It has also pushed harsh laws related to illegal immigration that would put more immigrants in the jails of the very same private prisons that fund ALEC.

Yet that’s not all; you have to think about the interests of the penal-industrial complex — prison operators, bail-bond companies and more. (The American Bail Coalition has publicly described ALEC as its “life preserver.”) This complex has a financial stake in anything that sends more people into the courts and the prisons, whether it’s exaggerated fear of racial minorities or Arizona’s draconian immigration law, a law that followed an ALEC template almost verbatim.

Think about that: we seem to be turning into a country where crony capitalism doesn’t just waste taxpayer money but warps criminal justice, in which growing incarceration reflects not the need to protect law-abiding citizens but the profits corporations can reap from a larger prison population.

I had to ask myself – why in the hell does ALEC have this on their webpage page?

There is only one answer – they are after Minnesota’s prison system.

They are planning on privatizing the entire Minnesota prison system.

2008 Annual budget$472,272,000

Four Hundred Seventy Two Million more dollars

– taken from the taxpayers

– to be paid to ALEC corporations
– becauseALEClegislatorscan

Minnesota citizens put on unemployment as CCA and GEO Group privatize the prisons and lay off government workers in the prison system.

More Minnesota citizens losing their jobs and being replaced by prison labor at $1.00 a day.

CCA and GEO Group contracting MInnesota privatized prison labor to other ALEC members so they can increase their profits by NOT having to pay even minimum wage.

Don't kid yourself - there are a shitload of ALEC corporate profit sector members in Minnesota and everyone of them would be licking at the chops to lay off you or your kid or your neighbor - for cheap CCA or GEO Group prison laborers. It's a proven fact in other states - Minnesota would be no different.

ALEC has probably already made a deal with Corrections Corporation of America(CCA) and GEO Group for the MInnesota prison system.

ALEC, CCA and GEO Group have probably already paid for the Minnesota ALEC legislators vote to privatize/profitize our prisons and the other ALEC state-appointed officials to approve it.

Minnesota – we need to keep an eye on this issue and say NO to ALEC!

Minnesota prisons do not need to be profitized for the sole benefit of ALEC corporate profit sector members.

Washington, D.C. (March 26, 2012) – Today the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments in State of Florida and National Federation of Independent Business v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) filed an amicus curiae (or “friend of the court”) brief with the Court arguing that the minimum coverage provision, or individual mandate, in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional.

Well…it appears Common Cause had the same train of thought and they went forward and took a look at who is probably paying for this.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Florida’s now-infamous Stand Your Ground law, which lets you shoot someone you consider threatening without facing arrest, let alone prosecution, sounds crazy — and it is. And it’s tempting to dismiss this law as the work of ignorant yahoos. But similar laws have been pushed across the nation, not by ignorant yahoos but by big corporations.

Specifically, language virtually identical to Florida’s law is featured in a template supplied to legislators in other states by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed organization that has managed to keep a low profile even as it exerts vast influence ...

What this tells us, in turn, is that ALEC’s claim to stand for limited government and free markets is deeply misleading. To a large extent the organization seeks not limited government but privatized government, in which corporations get their profits from taxpayer dollars, dollars steered their way by friendly politicians. In short, ALEC isn’t so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism.

Get out a second Nobel for Paul Krugman. His column today is exactly on the mark in its framing of the right-wing legislative agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). This is not a group that is committed to the free market.

In area of after area, private prisons, private charter schools, private roads, ALEC is about allowing their members to feed off the public trough with sweetheart contracts.Calling these people "free market fundamentalists" is doing them a great favor. It implies that they are acting on a commitment to libertarian principles, as opposed to the reality where they are acting out of a commitment to stuffing their pockets.

Larry Pratt, the executive director of Second Amendment group Gun Owners of America, offered a rare defense of the man who killed Trayvon Martin, saying George Zimmerman was acting in self defense when he shot the Florida teen. As the facts of the case have emerged, everyone from President Obama to RIck Santorum and Rep. Allen West (R-FL) have condemned the killing.

OH, MY.....

American Legislative Exchange Council

PRIVATE SECTOR MEMBERSHIP

1992 Annual Report

Gun Owners of America

American Legislative Exchange Council

ALEC's Private Sector Members

Members and Contributors

1993 Annual Meeting Brochure

Gun Owners of America

ALEC must have gone looking for someone they thought that no one could link to ALEC and the NRA and the disastrous legislation - Stand Your Ground - ALEC Castle Doctrine "model legislation".

So ALEC and Gun Owners of America have a close relationship - kinda like ALEC and the NRA.

But what a lot of people don't realize that ALEC also has a big interest in the second amendment - to most people an unhealthy interest.

1995 ALECs 22nd Annual Meeting.

Tanya Metaksa of the National Rifle Association gave a stirring speech on the imperative to protect the Second Amendment rights of Americans.

The ALEC 1995 Source Book of American State Legislation included the

Resolution to the Second Amendment To The U.S. Constitution

This resolution recommends the rejection of restrictive firearms laws that would limit law-abiding citizens in their exercise of their Second Amendment rights.

Resolution On Semi-Automatic Firearms

This resolution recommends the rejection of local, state, and federal legislation restricting the possession of semiautomatic firearms, and further recommends that criminal justice resources be used for increased punishment and incarceration of violent criminals. (Sourcebook, Vol. I, pg. 236)

Resolution On "Waiting Periods"

This resolution recommends the rejection of local, state, and federal legislation imposing waiting periods before the purchase of a firearm,

August 2007 Inside ALEC

In the states, where the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been actively working with legislators, there are clear geographic splits. On the pro-second amendment side, mostly in the South and West, the most significant trend has been towards requiring state or local officials to provide licenses to carry a concealed firearm to citizens with no criminal record. Florida was the first of these “shall-issue” states in 1987 and since then 38 more have enacted “shall-issue” legislation. Many of these same states have also enacted legislation, much of it based on ALEC model bills, protecting hunters’ rights, pre-empting local gun control laws, and expanding self-defense legislation under the “Castle Doctrine.”

And an interesting little bit about Andrew LeFevre

2001 Director of the Criminal Justice Task Force, and the Education Task Force

And the author of the 2001 article on paying teachers based on performance), 2008 Report Card on American Education (15th Edition), and a co-author of the 2001 Report Card on American Education (1976 – 2000 and the 2010 Report Card on American Education

Throughout his career, Mr. LeFevre has written numerous articles about educational and criminal justice issues and interacted on a daily basis with legislators from all across the country discussing education and crime topics. He has testified before numerous state legislatures on key education and crime issues.

Mr. LeFevre has done numerous radio, print, and television interviews on topics ranging from education reform to privatizing government functions and the Second Amendment.

InsideALEC 2008

Emergency Firearms Confiscation Bill

State By WyomingState Rep. Allen Jaggi (R-18)

I first heard about this issue from Louisiana Henry “Tank” Powell, at ALEC’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, last year.

…legislation that prevents the state from using natural disaster or emergency as an excuse to confiscate firearms from citizens. .

…I then got a copy of Louisiana’s bill from Rep. Powell and sent it to the Legislative Service Office. They checked similar bills in other states and provided me a draft, which was acceptable to law enforcement. Similar laws have already passed in 21 other states.

…I was very pleased with the level of support I received from my fellow ALEC member and from legislators and citizens from around the state. This bill will help Wyoming citizens keep our second amendment rights.

Inside ALEC June 2010 – Article

ALEC Brief Defends Second Amendment

BY CHRIS W. COX, NRA Institute for Legislative Action

Chris W. Cox is the executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action. The NRA is a member of ALEC’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force.

In a few short weeks, the Supreme Court will deliver a decision that will have a great impact on all Americans’ Second Amendment rights. If the Court’s decision is favorable, American gun owners will be on the verge of a major step forward—due in large part to the support of organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its members.

Gun owners have also had the strong support of state legislators who took action in support of the effort. In December 2009, ALEC’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force passed a resolution which subsequently became an ALEC model and included the following language:

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the American Legislative Exchange Council affirms that the state legislatures that ratified the Fourteenth Amendment understood the Amendment to incorporate the right of self-defense and the right to keep and bear arms against state and local infringement;

ALEC members’ support for the right to keep and bear arms helps make the case that the decision to incorporate the Second Amendment is not only sound constitutionally, but also sound policy. Most state legislators are willing to work within the Constitution, and don’t fear strong protections for citizens’ rights.

Following up on ALEC’s resolution, ALEC filed an amicus brief in the McDonald case, urging the Supreme Court to reverse the Seventh Circuit’s flawed ruling.

ALEC is a non-partisan association of over 1,500 state legislators from across the United States and, as part of its duties, has frequently considered and implemented policy statements and resolutions concerning the individuals’ right to keep and bear arms, as well as proposing model legislation concerning gun ownership, use and regulation. ALEC’s fundamental focus in such activities is advancing and protecting the individual right to keep and bear arms against encroachment by state, local and federal lawmakers. Toward that end, ALEC seeks to support application of Second Amendment rights to the states and therefore requests leave to file the instant amicus curiae brief.

Oh my ------ well I guess that puts ALL ALEC legislators and alumni in the same boat with ALEC when it comes to gun rights. Kinda hard to step away from the issue - when the issue gets HOT - when you are a died in the wool - card carrying member of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Oh my ------ well I guess that puts ALL ALEC corporate profit sector members in the same boat with ALEC when it comes to gun rights. Kinda hard to step away from the issue - when the issue gets HOT - when you are a died in the wool - card carrying member of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

And being a card carrying member of ALEC becomes more of an issue when you take into account this writeup from Cato - using the EXACT words from the ALEC amicus brief.

Interest: ALEC is the nation’s largest non-partisan individual membership association of state legislators. It serves to advance Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism and individual liberty.

Argument: The Second Amendment is incorporated under the Due Process Clause because the right to keep and bear arms is “necessaryto an Anglo-American regime of ordered liberty” and is a right “deeply rooted in our nation’s history and tradition.”

Which ALEC in an afterthought - thought it was needed to do this also

Inside ALEC January 2010

ALEC Resolution on Mcdonald vs. Chicago

Affirms that the Second Amendment and the fundamental right of self-defense applies to Americans throughout the United States, regardless of where they live, against state and local governments so as to prohibit their infringement of the right to keep and bear arms.

They never cease to amaze me in their maniacal focus on issues.

And they never cease to amaze me in their maniacal focus on issues and what results from their paranoia in the name of “model legislation”.

DRAFT

Gun Owners' Privacy and Access to Health Care Act

Summary

This Act prevents health care practitioners from denying care to patients who legally own firearms. The Act prevents insurers from charging premium rates or denying coverage simply because a policyholder legally possesses firearms.

So as – you can see – ALEC is all about guns and second amendment shit.

It doesn’t matter if ALEC isn't talking about it right now in the wake of what happened in SandfordFL.

It doesn’t matter if the NRA isn’t talking about it right now in the wake of what happened in SandfordFL.

Evidently past (and probably present) ALEC member Gun Owners of America is talking about what happened in SandfordFL.

And it appears they are supporting their good buddies at ALEC – the other gun making and gun promoting private sector – corporate sector – corporate profit sector members of ALEC.

Many people are not aware that the passage of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Voter ID bill in Minnesota – as a constitutional amendment - is totally unneeded.

Recent history in the state has shown that Minnesota does NOT NEED VOTER ID.

Recent history has shown that Minnesota elections are NOT FRAUDULENT!

The passage of ALEC’s Voter ID was nothing but a ALEC feather in ALEC State-Chair Kiffmeyer’s hat. This isn't about voter fraud - it is about further pushing the ALEC pro-business agenda in the state of Minnesota.

But, history proves that her argument and her position are wrong.

Her actions just confirm the fanatical commitment that ALEC members have to the founder of ALEC - Paul Weyrich and his extremist right wing - we must win, at any cost - philosophy.

Letting people see the whole story can sometimes change the course of history.

In 2008, Minnesota’s US Senate race was decided by a several hundred votes out of more than two million cast. The recount and resulting election contest dragged on for nearly eight months. At stake: the 60th Democratic vote that could thwart a Republican filibuster.

In today’s hyper-partisan politics you might expect a race this close with so much at stake would be appealed to the US Supreme Court. At minimum you’d expect that the losing party would gain a lot of media attention by claiming the election had been stolen. Normally that would be true, but in this case the media didn’t give those claims any credibility.

Why?

Because the media and the rest of the world had been able to watch every moment of the recount and election contest live. On top of that, there was an indisputable video record of every moment. All of this thanks to The UpTake which livestreamed every day of the recount and trial.

And then there is this:

The Supreme Court said it may have been only by 312 votes, but Franken clearly won. The Canvassing Board said it. A three-judge Minnesota district court election contest panel said it. And now the five-judge state Supreme Court said it.

Unanimously every time. All in all, a dozen judges sided with Franken.

2010 MN Governor’s Race:Dayton – Emmer

Dayton will become the first Democrat to be elected Minnesota governor since 1986, after a statewide recount confirmed he received the most votes and the state Supreme Court left his opponent with few options to challenge the results.

…

Emmer attorney Eric Magnuson said the campaign agreed to certify results from the Nov. 2 count because it was clear Emmer could not prevail in the recount.

The canvassing board then certified the election.

Emmer said he wanted to let the recount take its course before conceding. He had also been waiting for a written opinion from the state Supreme Court, which two weeks ago denied a petition by the Emmer campaign requesting that election officials match the number of ballots with the number of voter signatures from Election Day

Minnesota Legislative Recounts in 2010

Rochester, Minn. (AP) — A recount has confirmed Republican Rich Murray as the winner of a southern Minnesota House seat that had been held the past four years by Democrat Robin Brown.

Murray led Brown by 57 votes entering the recount. The Post-Bulletin of Rochester reports that the recount in Mower and Freeborn counties found no change.

And another

According to the unofficial recount totals as posted on the Secretary of State’s web site, Republican Kelby Woodard has defeated incumbent DFLer David Bly for the state house seat in District 25B. The recount has Woodard with 8,903 votes to Bly’s 8,886. That’s six more votes than the unofficial election night machine count. The state canvassing board will certify the results in mid-December, making the results official.

And another

The accuracy of voting machines and the exactitude of recounts was confirmed today when Republican King Banaian won the recount in House District 15B over DFLer Carol Lewis.

The day began with Banaian, a St. CloudState economics professor and radio personality, ahead by 10 votes. After votes were counted in Stearns, Sherburne and Benton counties — which have precincts in the House district long held by the DFL — Banaian won by eight votes.